The invention is in the field of devices which shatter rather than crush nut shells and the like. It is particularly concerned with a portable hand-operated device for doing this efficiently and inexpensively.
There are various prior art devices for shattering rather than cracking nut shells. Examples are described in Turner, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,127,917 and 3,524,486; Dye, U.S. Pat. No. 3,435,863, and a device of this type is made by R. P. Industries of Raleigh, North Carolina under the name of TEXAS NATIVE NUTCRACKER. These prior art devices typically have a suitable base on which two nut gripping members, one or both of which may be guided for movement on said base, and an impact member are disposed. A nut shell engaged between the two nut gripping members may be suddenly impacted and shattered by the force of the impact member transmitted through the movement of the nut gripping members. To avoid crushing the meat of the nut, these prior art devices allow only a limited stroke of either the impact member or one of the nut gripping members. Various type safety shields to confine shattered shell fragments from scattering in all directions may be provided. While oflten quite useful, such prior art devices may not have sufficient versatility, low cost or ease of use in certain cases. For example, the prior art devices known to applicant are used while either resting on or anchored to a supporting surface, i.e., such as a table top, which limits their choice of location and makes them less portable and convenient to move from place to place. Moreover, to maximize the force of the moving impact member which is transmitted to the nut shell through the nut gripping members, at least one of the nut gripping members is made quite heavy, so as to have higher inertia, which further limits the portability of these devices. In addition, those prior art devices operating in a generally horizontal plane require that the nut gripping members and the nut shell be held in an operative position concurrently while the impact member is cocked in readiness for an operative stroke. This may make these prior art devices awkward and difficult to use.
In view of this prior art, there is a need for a nut cracking device which is highly portable and lightweight and can be used on a horizontal or an inclined surface, i.e., such as a table or counter top, but can be used as a handheld device without the need for any supportive surface. Such device should be convenient to use and should be inexpensive to make. This invention is directed to providing a device meeting such needs.
One specific embodiment of the invention is a device which comprises an elongated gun-like body. The gun body includes a barrel, a breech and a pistol grip. A trigger is mounted at the piston grip for movement toward and away from the grip. A loading carriage is mounted on the breech of the gun body for movement along the barrel axis. The trigger is connected to the loading carriage to move the carriage forwardly toward the barrel with the movement of the trigger toward the pistol grip. An inertia weight, having a forward end shaped to engage a nut shell, is mounted on the loading carriage to move therewith along the barrel axis. The mass of the inertia weight is substantially less than that of the inertia weights used in the prior art devices known to applicant. A hammer bolt, having a back end facing and aligned with the forward end of the inertia weight, and also being shaped to engage a nut shell, is mounted at the back end of the barrel for limited movement along the barrel axis. A safety shield is mounted at the breech. When in its operative position the shield encloses the facing ends of the inertia weight and hammer bolt and the nut shell to prevent shell fragments from scattering after impact of the nut shell and to contain the shell fragments so as to minimize clean up. A striker rod, having an upwardly projecting grip at its rear and a frontally projecting pull at its front, extends along the barrel. A spring extends along the length of the rod. The spring in its most extended position biases the rod toward the back end of the barrel, the rod thereby maintaining the hammer bolt in its biased position, i.e., the backmost position of its limited movement along the barrel axis. The rod moves by either grasping and moving the grip toward the front of the barrel or grasping and moving the pull away from the front of the barrel, and is guided by the barrel for movement along the barrel axis against the biasing action of the spring.
In operation, the device may either be supported on a horizontal or an inclined surface or may be used without any supporting surface, i.e., by being hand-held. The operation in either case is substantially the same. The hinged safety shield is moved from its operative position to permit insertion of a nut shell in the breech of the device. The loading carriage is moved rearwardly to permit insertion of the nut shell between the facing ends of the inertia weight and the hammer bolt. The nut shell is held in position by moderate pressure on the trigger againt the pistol grip. The trigger arrangement permits a much lighter inertia weight to be used when compared to previous devices of this type known to applicant and consequently a much lighter and more inexpensive device is possible. The hinged safety shield is closed to its operative position to enclose the facing ends of the inertia weight and hammer bolt and the nut shell so as to contain the shattering shell within the device. By grasping the extending upwardly projecting grip or the frontally projecting pull of the striker rod, the user moves the rod forwardly against the biasing action of the spring, and concurrently lightly squeezes the trigger to move the inertia weight, the carriage, the hammer bolt and the nut shell forwardly along the barrel axis by a distance corresponding to the extent of the limited movement of the hammer bolt. The user then releases the striker rod to permit a back stroke of the rod under the rearwardly biasing action of the spring. The striker rod strikes the hammer bolt; the hammer bolt, in turn, strikes the nut shell, and shatters the nut shell. Because of the limited movement of the hammer bolt and because of the inertia weight and the trigger arrangement, the nut meat is not crushed.